Toronto Police Accused Of Ignoring Body Parts Case Tip

Toronto police denied Thursday that they ignored a tip about a graphic online video that appears to depict the stabbing and dismemberment of a man days before law enforcement agencies began their search for Luka Rocco Magnotta, suspected in the slaying of a victim whose body parts were mailed out.

Roger Renville, a Montana-based civil litigation lawyer, told CBC News Thursday that he had come across the 10½-minute video Saturday morning on a website that showcases gory videos. Renville said he believes the video documents the killing and dismemberment of a man.

"Within a minute or two of the beginning of the video, it depicts one of the men stabbing the other man very obviously," he said.

Renville then began a series of calls to a number of law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States over the next three days, starting with his local sheriff's office. Most agencies — with the exception of the RCMP in Ottawa — were not especially keen on finding out more about the video, said Renville.

Renville claims he called Toronto police Sunday at around noon Mountain time and told them he had seen a video that he believed depicted the killing of a man and that he believed that the apparent killer was from Toronto.

"The officer was very skeptical. He seemed like he didn't even want to talk at first, but we got to talking a little bit and he suggested that whatever I was seeing must be fake. And he suggested that special effects are pretty good these days and it'd be hard to tell if it was real or not," said Renville.

"He told me that my story didn't even make sense. Why would a killer film himself and then put it on the internet? He said, 'That doesn't make sense, that's illogical.'"

Renville persisted, and asked the officer to provide him an email address so that police could view the video themselves.

"He said no, they wouldn't be needing a link and he declined to give me an email address."

Tip handled properly, Toronto police say

Toronto police say they've looked into Renville's allegations and have a record of a call placed to them at 10:30 p.m. ET Sunday night, which would be hours after Renville claims to have called.

Toronto police say the caller never provided them with a web address of the video or any information about how to access it. Police told CBC News the call-taker was not a uniformed officer but a "non-emergency call-taker."

Toronto police spokesperson Const. Wendy Drummond said the caller was instructed to contact Crime Stoppers, an anonymous police tip line, about the video and said the call taker-handled the call appropriately.

"A call was filed, they were suggested to call Crime Stoppers," said Drummond. "They were provided with a number to call Crime Stoppers so it wasn't that we did nothing."

Sources have told CBC News that Montreal police believe they are in possession of evidence of the suspect filming the killing and dismembering of the victim. While it hasn't been confirmed if the victim in the video Renville saw was the same one that Magnotta is alleged to have killed, the lawyer said he was nevertheless "extremely frustrated" at the response from police.

He said RCMP were more interested in his story when he called them late Tuesday.

Magnotta, believed to be originally from Toronto, is wanted in a homicide investigation related to the delivery of a human foot to the headquarters of Conservative Party of Canada in Ottawa and the discovery of a torso in Montreal. Magnotta was first named as a suspect on Wednesday.

The torso was found behind a brick mid-rise apartment building, which is near the bustling Decarie Expressway.

Meanwhile, a hand was found in a package addressed to the Liberal Party of Canada at a Canada Post terminal before it could be delivered.

Montreal police said there are still remains that are unaccounted for, but they have no reason to believe they were also sent in the mail.

Magnotta, whose most recent residence was in Montreal, was listed on Interpol's website Thursday among a group of nine international suspects wanted for crimes including homicide, kidnapping and organized crime.

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Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Photos from the family of Jun Lin, the victim of Luka Magnotta were given to media Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Montreal. Preliminary hearing is underway for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Luka Rocco Magnotta is shown in an artist's sketch in a Montreal court on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Magnotta has collapsed in court during his preliminary hearing.The notorious suspect in a killing and dismemberment case had been listening to evidence against him, whose contents are subject to a publication ban.

Daran Lin, father of murder victim Jun Lin, leaves the courthouse in Montreal on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Preliminary hearing is set to start for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Luka Rocco Magnotta is seen in an artist's sketch in a Montreal court on Monday, March 11, 2013. A preliminary hearing is set to start for Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.Magnotta's lawyers want the public and media barred from attending the hearing, which is to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.

Daran Lin, father of murder victim Jun Lin, leaves court with his translator Daran Lin in Montreal on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Preliminary hearing is set to start for Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man charged in connection with the infamous body-parts case that made international headlines.

Alleged killer Luka Rocco Magnotta is seen in court on a artist drawing Wednesday, January 9, 2013 in Montreal. Magnotta is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying and dismemberment of Chinese engineering student Jun Lin.

Luka Rocco Magnotta is taken by police from a Canadian military plane to a waiting van on Monday, June 18, 2012 in Mirabel, Quebec. Magnotta, the lone suspect in a brutal Montreal killing that made headlines around the world, is back home to face justice on Canadian soil. (Montreal Police)

Magnotta lands in Canada (Montreal Police)

Magnotta lands in Canada (Montreal Police)

Mug shot of Luka Rocco Magnotta, released by Montreal Police on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Magnotta told a judge Tuesday he will not fight his extradition from Germany to Canada, Berlin police say. Magnotta is wanted in Canada on several charges, including first-degree murder, in connection with the killing and dismemberment of Chinese national Jun Lin. (AP Photo/Montreal Police Service via The Canadian Press)

Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Warren Lemcke speaks during a news conference after a human hand was delivered to a school and a human foot to another in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday June 5, 2012. Montreal police later confirmed the packages are connected to the dismembered body of a Chinese student found in Montreal last week and the international manhunt for his killer. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A man walks his dog past St. George's School where a human foot was delivered to the school earlier in the day in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday June 5, 2012. A human hand was also delivered to another Vancouver school Tuesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A television cameraman films parents and students at False Creek Elementary School after a human hand was delivered to the school earlier in the day in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday June 5, 2012. A human foot was also delivered to another Vancouver school Tuesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A police car leaves the central police detention facility of Berlin supposedly carrying Luka Rocco Magnotta to a Berlin court Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Luka Magnotta, 29, a Canadian porn actor suspected of murdering and dismembering a Chinese was arrested on Monday at an Internet cafe. A cafe employee recognized Magnotta from a newspaper photo and flagged down a police car. (AP Photo/dapd/ Timur Emek)

The internet cafe where Luka Rocco Magnottahe was recognized in the district of Neukoelln in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

This image taken from CCTV obtained by Associated Press video shows Luka Rocco Magnotta entering the Internet cafe in the district of Neukoelln in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 4, 2012, where Kadir Anlayisli, who works in the cafe recognized him. "I looked at him and thought I knew him from somewhere, because I read newspapers every day," Anlayisli said. (AP Photo/AP Video)

This image taken from CCTV obtained by Associated Press video shows Kadir Anlayisli, a cafe worker waiting for police in the doorway of the Internet cafe in the district of Neukoelln in Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 4, 2012, where Luka Rocco Magnotta was arrested. (AP Photo/AP Video)

In a Wednesday, May 30, 2012 photo, janitor Eric Schoer looks at a blood-stained fridge at an apartment rented by suspect Luka Rocco Magnotta, where police believe a man was murdered and dismembered, in Montreal. (The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

A police officer removes a package containg a human foot from the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

The following is a series of photos and self-portraits posted by Magnota on various websites (Facebook)